NEW YORK -- Billy Packer didn't sound like a man who found out his 34-year run as part of the Final Four broadcast had ended.
On Monday, CBS announced that Clark Kellogg would replace Packer after 27 years as the network's lead college basketball analyst. Including his earlier years at NBC, Packer had done every Final Four since 1975, an unparalleled run for a national sports championship.
"These are really good circumstances," Packer told the Associated Press by phone. "This decision was made with myself and CBS over a year ago. Their timing to announce it is their business. I have nothing to do with that. I was working on a series of 1-year contracts for several years. ... I did say there would be no mention during the season so as not to detract from the games and the guys involved."
The Miami Herald reported that current ESPN NBA analyst Greg Anthony is a contender to fill Kellogg's spot in the CBS studio show with Greg Gumbel and Seth Davis
Kellogg, a game and studio analyst for CBS for 16 years, will be the man next to Jim Nantz on the 2009 Final Four broadcasts.
"With his unquestioned popularity and performance over the years, Clark Kellogg earned all rights to this top spot," Sean McManus, president of CBS News and Sports, said in a statement. "Like Billy Packer, Al McGuire or any of the most highly regarded broadcasters, Clark is an original voice with his own style and perspective."
The 68-year-old Packer said he was "happy" for Kellogg, who played at Ohio State and then in the NBA.
"I think he has worked his trade and certainly as a player was a student of the game. His work at CBS and the fact he is such a smart guy should serve him well," Packer said. "I wish him nothing but the best."
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| Billy Packer joined the CBS Sports team in 1981. (Getty Images) |
"I have had a chance to broadcast most of the great games since college basketball got on national television and I'm not interested in broadcasting any more games," he said. "I enjoyed doing that but I won't be any more."
He said he is involved in a college basketball project that he'll discuss in a few months.
Packer was able to stay one of sports' top analysts without changing much over more than three decades. He spoke his mind about coaches, players, the NCAA tournament and the influx of foreign athletes into American college sports.
"His understanding of men's college basketball, his analysis of the game, and his love for its place in higher education has ensured a legacy that anyone can envy," NCAA president Myles Brand said in a statement. "He is a friend of intercollegiate athletics, and I want to thank him for the enormous contributions he has made to the NCAA's Final Four tournament, as well as on many, many other occasions over several years."
